Lightweight gun systems are being increasingly the preferred choice of the military establishments. The lighter the gun, the less total gun weight that needs to be transported. This is a tremendous advantage where the gun systems must be transported to difficult climates. Mortars are one example of guns used in the military. They provide the capability of shooting rounds at targets at medium ranges. 120 mm mortars are an example of such a mortar system. FIG. 1 illustrates a 120 mm mortar assembly currently in use. Mortar assembly 2 includes barrel 4, breech piece 5, bipod 6, and base-plate 8. Barrel 4 is angled up and down to shoot the round at the desired trajectory. The lower end of the barrel 4 is externally threaded to take the breech piece 5. The breech piece holds the striker. The striker is a fixed stud on which the bomb falls under gravity. The lower end of the breech piece is shaped into a ball (not shown) which enters a socket in the base plate 8.
Bipod 6 functions as a support and means to adjust the angle of trajectory. This is achieved by adjusting the angle that barrel 4 makes with the ground. It also provides the means to hold barrel 4 at a proper angle. Base-plate 8 is a heavy welded steel dish. It has socket 10 at the center to take the breech piece. This provides the capability to rotate the barrel 4 around a full 360 without shifting the base-plate.
Similar to base-plate 8, barrel 4 and bipod 6 are also made of steel. Current mortars take advantage of important attributes of steel. However, there are disadvantages associated with the use of steel as the main material for manufacturing the mortars. For example, 120 mm mortars made of steel are very heavy and require a team to transport each piece. Typical prior art 120 mm mortars weigh between 272 kg and 341 kg in the traveling configuration. This creates problems when these mortars can no longer be carried by machine and must be carried by humans. In these situations, the 120 mm mortars must be dismantled and transported part by part. This requires at least 3 to 4 people to carry all the parts. Furthermore, in situations where time is of the essence and the rounds must be fired continuously, dismantling and re-assembling the mortars may not be practical.
Another problem with the current 120 mm mortars is that there is no mechanism to reduce the recoil force and absorb the recoil energy of the mortar assembly after each round is fired. Presently, sand bags are placed under and around base-plate 8 to absorb the recoil movement of mortar 2. Despite this, present 120 mm mortars on a non-absorbing surface may jump as high as 3 to 4 feet off the ground. This poses a clear danger to the mortar operators. As a consequence, mortars are either placed on absorbing surfaces such as soft ground or sandbags and may have extra bags placed on the mount to reduce rebound effects. The recoil problem is even greater with a light mortar such as the mortar of the present invention.
In view of the above, it is clearly seen that there is a need for lightweight gun systems, such as lightweight mortars. Furthermore, there is a need for gun systems with dampers that can substantially reduce the recoil force and absorb the recoil energy of the gun system caused by firing rounds.